Gretchen Isabel (Wettlaufer) DePaull

Gretchen Isabel (Wettlaufer) DePaull, formerly of Camillus and Marcellus, passed away on Thursday at The Nottingham, just four weeks after her daughter, Cammie.

Gretchen was born on Christmas Eve, 1934, in Cleveland, OH, to George and Jessie Wettlaufer. She grew up in Cleveland Heights with her older sister, Camilla, and younger brother, Karl. One of her proudest accomplishments was touring post-World War II Europe with her high school choir (leader, second sopranos) in 1953.

Gretchen attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, where she met her future husband, R. Louis DePaull. Upon graduating with a degree in Elementary Education, she relocated to Bangor, ME, where Lou was stationed as a dental officer in the United States Air Force. Their eldest child, Camilla, was born there in 1958.

In 1960, they moved to Camillus, where Lou established his dental practice and where they welcomed four more children. In 1970, they moved to a large, old home in the village of Marcellus, where they raised their children and welcomed many friends and relatives over the years.

In the mid-1980s, after her children were grown, Gretchen returned to college at OCC and earned an associate’s degree in early childhood development. For the next 10 years, she served as the director of the Marcellus Village Nursery School until her and Lou’s retirements in the late 1990s.

They spent their “golden years” in Sarasota and Sanibel Island, Florida, traveling to Europe, Alaska, and many of the U.S. National Parks, and visiting their children and grandchildren.

Gretchen was predeceased by her husband, Dr. R. Louis DePaull; daughter, Camilla Duffy; parents; sister, Camilla Hirschel; and brother, Karl Wettlaufer.

Surviving are her sons, Thomas (Deborah) DePaull of Louisville, KY, and Timothy (Barbara) DePaull of Webster, NY; daughters, Mary (Walt Rafferty) DeSantis of Saratoga Springs and Margret (Michael) Fleming of Huntington Beach, CA; grandchildren, Jackson and Julia Duffy, Greg DePaull, Jenna (Joseph) DePaull Bush, Alex and Nicolas DeSantis, Annalise and Karlie DePaull, and James Ekdahl; son-in-law, John Duffy of Ellicott City, MD; and several nieces and nephews.

Special thanks to all of the wonderful staff at The Nottingham who took such good care of Gretchen for the last ten years.

To celebrate Gretchen’s life, relatives and friends are invited to gather on Friday, April 10, 2026, from 9 to 11 a.m. at St. Francis Xavier Church, 1 W. Main St., Marcellus.

A funeral Mass will follow at the church.

Gretchen will be laid to rest in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, Marcellus.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Dr. Burles Johnson/The John and Camilla Duffy Fund, c/o John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, 750 E. Pratt St., Suite 1700, Baltimore, MD 21202 or to The National Audubon Society, 225 Varick St., 7th floor, New York, NY 10014.